RAP POETRY 101

RAP

• Rap is "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics".[4] The components of rapping include "content", "flow" (rhythm and rhyme), and "delivery".[5] Rapping is distinct from spoken word poetry in that it is performed in time to a beat.[6][7]
• Rap is performed by what are known as MCs
• Rap was born of out if the urban poverty of America
• It has become one of the most vital cultural forces of the last century

Rap is the mutt of music in a very beautiful way, it pulls western verse,folk idioms from the African diaspora, as well as the musical heritage of jazz, blues and funk

"Rap is poetry but it's popularity relies in part on not recognizing it as such" the best MCs like Rakim, Jay-Z, Tupac and many others deserve consideration alongside the giants of American poetry.

Rap is one of the most beautiful form of artistic expression
Rap was conceived by the weight of despair in the bottom of American society and a massive amount of creative energy
Rap is a voice for those who are at the bottom for those without a voice

"Rap never ignores the listeners quite the contrary, it aggressively asserts itself with out invitation upon our consciousness"

Rap is one of the most beautiful works of art/literature the 21st century has seen.

It's not to say that there isn't bad rap.
Not all but many rappers in the past few years rap about drugs women and doing what they please, which has given rap a bad name

Rap does not conform to societies rules of conduct, nor does it in the world. The argument goes that if the lyric is too poetically developed it likely will distract from the music itself, but that is not how rap works

Rap is oral poetry, like a poetry slam but with rhythm and beats to it. It relies heavily on devi
aves of sound versus literary poetry

An example of lyric transcription-
One TWO Three FOUR
standing on the front stoop hangin out the window
Watching all the cars go by, roaring as the breeze blows

Or-
One TWO Three FOUR
Broke glass everywhere
People pis sin on the stairs, you know they just don't care

Another argument against rap is that popular lyric lacks much of the structure of a literary verse. But rap challenges and overcomes this.

Unburdened by expectations of melody and harmony, rappers have unparalleled freedom to generate poetic textures in itself.

The ancient Greeks called their lyric poetry ta mele, which means "poems to be sung"

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• http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapping
• https://d22d7v2y1t140g.cloudfront.net/m_2318418_Pyj7jrH8ViJP.jpg
• The poetics of American song lyrics